It's CHRISTMAS time!

It's official.  I refused to get excited about Christmas until Thanksgiving was over, but it's over so let the fun begin!  We yanked out all our decorations today and put them up.  I hesitated to put up both trees (we have two big, artificial ones that I put in each living room), but I did it anyway.  Justin may attack them and destroy them, but I don't care!  It's fun to have two trees!  The kids were such big "helpers" that it took me two days to complete everything, but the inside of our house is ready for Christmas.  Now for the outside... (Jonathan is out of town much of December so I think that's going to be my job to get outside done too!  Wish me luck!)

Here is a closeup of the tree where Katelynn put ALL the decorations I gave her to hang.  Needless to say, Mommy did a little "rearranging" after bedtime.  :)

Turkey Bowling Tradition

So part of the tradition with spending Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle includes bowling that weekend.  This was our very first year where we had the kids bowling.  Last time we went Katelynn was only 6 weeks old.  In addition to all of us, we also had my friend and her family there with us (but I'm not posting any pictures of them since I haven't asked her).  We had two lanes- one with three kids 3 and under on.  It's a bit crazy with the little ones, but it was still so much fun!  Katelynn LOVED bowling (this was her first time).

Justin spent his time eating snacks and playing with those not bowling.

I love this picture- Justin was all over getting Uncle Rob's glasses

Letters to Santa

Stone Mountain also had a setup for the kids to write letters to Santa.  At first just Katelynn was making a letter, but Justin seemed interested so we let him give it a go.  He mostly ate his crayon, but he did do a little coloring!

Off to the North Pole they go!

Christmas at Stone Mountain

This year we skipped Black Friday shopping (shh.. don't tell me the deals I missed out on) and instead we took off that afternoon to Stone Mountain in Georgia.  It was a bit cold out, but we had a blast.  It was a great way to start the Christmas season since Thanksgiving was officially over!  They had a ton of really cute shows (dancing elves were Katelynn's favorite) for the kids, a parade with Santa, an interactive goat, lights, a train ride (another favorite), and of course the regular stuff like the sky ride up to the top of the mountain.  We didn't even get to do all the events and were there WAY past the kid's bedtime.  Justin crashed hours before we left and Katelynn fell asleep on the way to the car.  Since it was cold, I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few!

The whole group in front of the mountain.  Little did we know at the time, Aunt Debbie is afraid of heights!  She made it to the top though and did great!

This was our last event of the night- 4D Polar Express show (it was awesome!).  Can you tell it was late?  (Justin is passed out and Katelynn wasn't far behind!)

Turkey Day!

This year we spent Thanksgiving at my parent's house in Georgia.  Thanksgiving is the only big holiday that Jonathan and I are willing to travel with the kids so it's nice to get to go to my parent's since we force them to come here any other time.  My Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rob (mom's sister and her husband) came up from Miami to visit as well.  For years, it has been a tradition to spend Thanksgiving with them.  My parents go to Miami every other year and then they come up to Atlanta the opposite years.  It hasn't happened the past few years, but hopefully this was the startup of the tradition being continued.

This was Justin's first Thanksgiving and since he's eating solids, he got to have turkey his very first T-Day... not on the special china though.  We'll have to wait a few years for that!  :)

Standing and more!

It's big news at the Miller house- Justin is getting pretty darn close to walking!  My BABY is almost walking.  He has been crusing around furniture for a while now, but in the past week he has started standing all by himself.  It started by Justin becoming interested in holding something and not realizing that he was not holding on, then I started letting go of his hands and he would stand, and now as of TODAY he got up on his own from the floor!!  Here's the best I could get of him standing on his own so far!  Still a little unsteady, but he can stand for a minute or two without any trouble!

Katelynn's Dance Class

Katelynn's dance class had a "parent watch day" where parents could come into the dance studio and watch the last 15 minutes of class.  It was so cute watching them!  We get to see the girls on a small TV in the waiting area, but it switches between studios so we don't see them nonstop and it is much better to be right there anyway.  It was cute to see how some of the girls (Katelynn included) were a little shy performing in front of us at first.  Here are a few pictures and video of the day!

Here they each went across the floor one at a time so they were center of attention!

And the dance.  Katelynn and her partner were hilarious as they turned to face the audience instead of the mirror as they were supposed to.  This was only the second week the girls had been learning this dance, and they did so well for it being new to them!

Toofers!

Justin currently has four teeth!  Here is the first picture I have been able to grab with all four of the teeth.  Those top eye teeth are hard to get a great picture of!

Loving Every Season

Long before I had kids someone once told me that they could never say they loved one certain age when their children were growing up because each age brought something new and exciting.  I didn't quite believe them back then.  I had always loved the baby age, and I thought for sure nothing would change that, but it's true.  Every single day as my kids seem to grow up before my eyes, I find something else that is so fun about the stage they are at.

Right now Justin is enjoying his newfound freedom and seems to learn how to climb or move about more freely each day.  He is also learning how to get a hold of anything and everything he can to make his sister upset :)

And right now Katelynn is adding so many "adult" words to her vocabulary and speaking in sentences that make my head turn or make me chuckle each and every day. 

What's for Dinner?

Dad: "Katelynn, what do you want for dinner tonight?"
K "Maybe cook."
D "But what should we cook?"
K"We could just eat anything we want."
D "So, we should have a free-for-all and just fix our own food and eat what we want?"
K "But it is too hot for me to cook.  I could get hurt."
D "So what do you want mommy and daddy to make you?"
K "You just cook for mommy and daddy and I will deal with me."
D "Don't you want us to make you dinner?"
K "You just do dinner for you and I will deal with my dinner."

She then walked into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of bread from the bag and is eating it.  Nice dinner, right?

And then the conversation got even a bit funnier.  As she was in the living room eating her "dinner", Justin came over to try and get some of the good food.  We told her she could break a piece of and hand it to him.  She breaks a piece off, holds it in front of Justin and when he doesn't grab it immediately, she says, "Justin, grab it.  I can't stand here and hold it all day long!"

Mommy is sick!

So I'm sick.  Being a mom and being sick just don't go hand-in-hand.  I'm on day three of feeling yucky, but thankfully today I can sit up and move around without feeling like I'm going to die.  I am just praying the kids don't catch it! 

So while I have been sick, the kids have been doing a little more independent time as Daddy has been trying to manage the entire house and still work on a big project that is due today.  It has been fun watching them interact without me right there with them.  As I type this, they are playing music off Katelynn's piano and hand-in-hand they are dancing to the music.  Too cute!  Of course, there has been some fair share of fighting these past two days too!

Justin has also gotten some freedom with eating since Daddy took over.  I have to admit that I am pretty cautious about what I feed my little ones.  I kept Katelynn on a pretty strict schedule of what she could eat until a year old.  I have been trying to be a little more open with Justin since he is a picky eater, and the pediatrician did say I could give him anything except eggs and nuts, but I still don't think I would have made the choices Daddy did with food for him.  I haven't really eaten with them in two days, and yesterday Jonathan mentioned that Justin ate an entire half of a grilled cheese sandwich.  My first question was, "So did you just cut it in little pieces?"  Much to my surprise, he said he gave it to him whole and Justin did great with it!  In addition to his grilled cheese sandwich, Daddy said he ate chili and lunch meat and did great!  Whoa!  I guess they're putting me in my place with this whole eating thing!

Random Thoughts and Events

So, I do use this blog to keep our friends and family up to date on the happenings around here at the Miller house, but we also use this blog to keep track for ourselves of some of the funny things the kids do.  They grow so fast that it's ridiculous how quickly you forget some of the little moments.  There are a few things I keep meaning to blog about that have been happening around here just so Jonathan and I can remember them, and I always forget.  So... here are all my random thoughts that I keep forgetting to blog about.

Katelynn's Past
Katelynn and I have several conversations where she will tell me about when she was a mommy.  It is so funny to me because she will tell me that she was the mommy and I was the baby (and Justin was a baby too).  She really trully thinks that before she was a baby, she was a mommy but yet the rest of us are still around her.  For instance, one time it was about how when she was a mommy and had Justin in her belly.  I wish I could remember word-for-word some of the stories she has told me.  I'm going to have to remember to blog next time we have one of those conversations.  Is this common for a three-year old to think this?  I don't even bother to correct her.  I just think it's too cute, and she can go on and on about it for a while too!

Justin's progression
Justin has seriously went from being a baby to starting to form into a toddler so quickly.  It seemed like he was crawling and then he was doing everything!  I don't remember Katelynn climbing like he does.  Just yesterday we were outside, and he was walking around (assisted by furniture of course) the sandbox and the next thing I know (literally looked at my camera screen for 20 seconds), he was on top of the kiddie picnic table!  He is also pointing his finger, which I never remember Katelynn doing.  He likes to point at a lot of things.  I'm not sure if it's to tell us what he wants or if he just does it to do it, but I think it's kind of cute!  And lastly, we are almost positive that Justin is saying the word, "Ball" now.  It's one of those things that you struggle with if they are really saying it or if it's just a concidence, but he really seems to be saying the same thing whenever a ball is in his hand, and if we ask him where a ball is, he will say the word and start looking around. 

Phrases that crack me up (made by Katelynn)
These are everyday phrases that never are very funny coming from an adult mouth (which no doubt is where she is learning them), but I just think she sounds so old and funny when she says them!
" I have a question."  (And sometimes she just has something to tell us, not a question at all)
" I am thinking we could..."
" I could do that for you."

Perfect Fall Day

If only the pictures were just as perfect as the day...... but with a 9-month old and 3-year old, that's not very likely.  Justin is much more my model these days than Kateylnn, who doesn't want to stop what she's doing for even a second to smile.  And really since Justin started crawling, he's quick to stop sitting cute and crawl away too, but I decided to give it a shot to get some pretty fall pictures while we were enjoying 70 degree weather and colorful leaves.  Not only are my kids not cooperative, but my camera hasn't been very cooperative lately either (I think I really need to take it in and have it looked at.) so between blurry shots and the kids, these few are the best I got!  Oh well.. at least we enjoyed some nice weather and had some fun outdoors!

Girls Don't WORK!

I wish I could blog every time Katelynn and I have a conversation.  She comes up with the cutest and funniest things several times a day.  Today is only one example of how the mind of a three year old can be soo funny!

So this morning the kids and I were being lazy lounging in our bed (Jonathan and my bed) while Jonathan got ready for work.  He was actually heading out for a job around Charlotte today.  Justin kept trying to get him to come over and get him, and I made the comment, "Maybe you should go to work with Daddy today, Justin."  That's how this conversation with Katelynn started.

Katelynn:  "Justin can't go to work, Mommy."

Me:  "He can't?"

Katelynn:  "No.  He's too little."

Me:  "Okay.  Then maybe you should go help Daddy at work today."

(I thought that comment may get her thinking because she thinks Justin is small, but she always reminds us that she is not a LITTLE girl; she's a BIG girl.)

Katelynn:  "I can't help Daddy work!"

Me:  "You can't?  Why not?"

Katelynn:  "I'm not a BOY!"

Of course we then went on to explain that girls can work too (like both her grandmas go to work) and that mommy used to work before Katelynn and Justin were born, and that she will again when they are bigger. 

Katelynn's 3 year pictures

I finally took Katelynn in today for her 3-year pictures.  As usual, I got too many poses because I just couldn't decide.  Here they all are!!

Trick or TREAT!!

We had a great time trick or treating this year.  The only thing that could have made it better is if it didn't rain!!  We started our evening off at a friend's Halloween party.  Katelynn and a bunch of her friends took off trick or treating in their neighborhood for a while, but then it started to rain so we headed home.  On the way home, Katelynn kept telling us to stop the car so she could go to the houses we were passing to get treats.. he,he.  By the time we got home, the rain had stopped so she took off trick or treating with our next door neighbor kids and their friends.  She had a blast! 

Katelynn and Justin ToTing in our first neighborhood.  We utilized the wagon there!

Back in our neighborhood with the big kids!

We don't even really know this little boy.  He was friends of our neighbors and doesn't live around here, but he's four and he and Katelynn were so cute.  After they would get candy at each house, they would walk down the driveway or the grass holding hands.. only until they reached us for some reason and then they went on their own again until the next house.  It was soo cute!

This makes me laugh.  When we got home and Katelynn was taking off her shoes, I told her how when I was little I would dump out all my treats when I got home and see what I got.  I didn't really expect her to do it right that second, but she did.. right by the door, and Justin went for it hoping to score some before I noticed.

Bedtime!